


of old gods and the endless

by crownsandbirds



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff, Heaven & Hell, I have no fucking idea how to tag this, M/M, Minor Portgas D. Ace/Smoker, Mythology - Freeform, The Sandman (1989) AU, like if you squint you can see it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 18:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18666262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownsandbirds/pseuds/crownsandbirds
Summary: "Happiness in and of itself, untainted by anything external to itself, fulfilling and eternal and impossibly pure.Zoro is delighted because he is, because Luffy is delight.Luffy smiles up at him, sunlight trailing down his chin from the corner of his lips.'I could die for you', Zoro thinks. 'I’d die without you.'"in which Zoro falls in love with an Endless, Luffy has to visit an old friend, Ace goes to a bar at the edge of the universe, and divinity tastes like early mornings.or: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman AU, but with a happy ending.





	of old gods and the endless

**Author's Note:**

> "So in awe, there I stood as you licked off the grain;  
> Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame;  
> As long as amber of ember glows;  
> All the "would" that I'd loved is long ago."
> 
> (would that i - hozier)
> 
> NOTE: i like to think i made all the explanations as clear as possible. but just to make it clearer:
> 
> \- the endless are siblings that represent anthropomorphic concepts essential to humanity, and they've existed since always;  
> \- robin is destiny, ace is death, luffy is delight, sanji is desire (desire takes many forms, and abides to no real concept of gender, and so, following canon, i've decided to use they/them pronouns for sanji), law is dream (despair and destruction will maybe be introduced at a later date?);  
> \- shanks is lucifer and he rules over hell;  
> \- heaven is ruled over by god, followed by the gorosei - smoker is, therefore, an angel;

The bed Luffy just got up from is still warm when Zoro idly touches it with his fingers.

 

There's warmth everywhere Zoro touches - everywhere Luffy goes, there's warmth and colors. Like the world bends itself to his whims, to the explosive joy of his being.

 

" _Zoro_ ," he whines from where he's sitting on the windowsill. "Why are you all the way over there?"

 

Zoro smiles. Trails the tips of his fingers on the blankets, walks to Luffy, lets Luffy hold him tight against his chest.

 

Luffy's heart beats much faster than the others. He presses kisses up Zoro's neck, makes him shiver despite it being early morning, of the lazier, slower kind.

 

The happiness he feels with Luffy is different from anything else. It’s what proves to him that this boy - this _being_ \- is made of something so much more than merely flesh and bone. With him, Zoro feels a delight so clean it's almost sharp - clean like polished glass, like the shimmering surface of the ocean. As the sun creates its own power and makes use of it to shine, so Zoro feels happy with Luffy. Happiness in and of itself, untainted by anything external to itself, fulfilling and eternal and impossibly pure.

 

Zoro is delighted because he is, because _Luffy_ is delight.

 

Luffy smiles up at him, sunlight trailing down his chin from the corner of his lips.

 

_I could die for you_ , Zoro thinks. _I’d die without you._

 

“Want breakfast?” he says instead.

 

Luffy grins wider.

 

"Pancakes," he demands.

 

"Okay. C'mere, then."

 

Luffy sits on top of the counter, legs kicking the air idly as Zoro makes pancakes for the both of them. He tells stories of the universe, of ages past, of when he watched Shakespeare perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in a forest almost five centuries ago ( _so funny, Zoro, I laughed so hard my tummy hurt!_ ), of when he helped his brother rescue the head of his son Orpheus, which was hidden on a tomb amongst other heads beneath a guillotine during the French Revolution, of a particularly chaotic family breakfast when his oldest brother poured water on their sibling's cereal bowl and the fight that ensued nearly destroyed half the galaxies in the known universe.

 

Luffy's speech is colorful around the edges - simple as it is, borderline childish when he's in a particularly hyperactive mood, there's also endless knowledge in them, some sort of infinite glee that stems from having lived entire millennia and still being full of wonder towards what he has yet to see. His words curl around themselves and flutter into Zoro's mind like iridescent, invisible butterflies.

 

“Look, Zoro,” Luffy says, his voice carrying up towards the clouds. “I made a dragonfly!”

 

Zoro looks at the tip of his raised finger. There, a rainbow-colored dragonfly rests, its wings beating incredibly fast.

 

-

 

Destiny stands in the majestic gallery of her family, facing the six portraits of her brethren. All of the Endless have a similar room in their respective places of residence - Destiny's, however, is the largest and most astounding, with full body paintings of each of her blood siblings.

 

She stands in front of Delight. She’ll start with him, she decided - better to begin with the most pleasant of them, to make things lighter somehow; also better to begin with the center of the entire question they must discuss. The portrait of her youngest and oldest brother stares back at her with a mysterious and almost terrifying glee in his big brown eyes.

 

She holds his straw hat gently in her hands.

 

“My brother,” she says. “I stand in my gallery, and I hold your sigil. I summon the family to me. It is I, Destiny of the Endless, who calls you. Come.”

 

Delight flings himself out of the portrait, his entire body tense and poised with hyperactivity as always. Her brother always looks ready to fly out of the window or set something on fire, whatever appeals most to his erratic, impossible mind.

 

He bounces quick on his tiptoes, a small, repeating gesture of his that he uses as a way to let out some of his never-ending energy.

 

“Robin!” he greets loudly, a huge grin on his face. His undying habit of calling them for their old, more human names seems to be as present as it ever was. “I'm here!”

 

She smiles. It would be impossible for her not to.

 

“Delight, my brother,” she says pleasantly. “It has been a while.”

 

“Is everyone coming?”

 

Destiny shifts her heavy book from one arm to the other. “I hope so. I was about to summon Death next.”

 

Delight's eyes _shine_ like two suns, as she predicted they would. She picked the order in which she would summon her siblings with care; Death and Delight are remarkably close, and she knew she would have to present to their youngest, most excitable brother some sort of entertainment. His brain is astoundingly unstable, and it's always been a challenge in and of itself to keep him sitting in one place for longer than five minutes.

 

He watches eagerly as she takes Death's sigil in her palm - a medal, forged in mystical, galactic fire, a bull's skull carved in one face and an A engraved on the other.

 

Delight bounces faster on his tiptoes.

 

“My brother,” she says, once more. “I stand in my gallery, and I hold your sigil. I summon the family to me. It is I, Destiny of the Endless, who calls you. Come.”

 

As soon as Death steps out of his portrait, Delight _flings_ himself at him, wraps his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, a full-bodied, almost overwhelming display of pure affection.

 

Destiny can't imagine she would feel entirely comfortable with being embraced like that - their oldest brother, however, shifts his feet to support himself better, squares his shoulders and wraps his arms around Delight in a tight, loving hold, his movements smooth like water with gentleness and care.

 

Death laughs against Delight's soft dark hair.

 

They look immensely alike.

 

“ _Ace!”_ Delight exclaims, his tone loud and bright. His entire being seems to shine with happiness. “I _missed_ you!”

 

“Hey, you little punk,” Death says with bone-deep fondness. He lifts one hand to ruffle his hair. “What have you gotten yourself into, now?”

 

“A chaotic mess of unprecedented scales,” a sharp, exhausted voice answers from the third portrait. “As always.”

 

Luffy's head whips around immediately, the gesture so sudden it's nearly dizzying.

 

“ _Tora-o!”_

 

Delight jumps out of Death's arms and _runs_ to hug Dream, his arms wrapped bruising-tight around his thin body. Dream lets out a long-suffering, heavy sigh, but his lips unconsciously curl into a small smile.

 

He doesn’t hug Delight back, but he does place a caring hand on the top of his head.

 

“Do you have any idea of what you've done?” he inquires. Delight hides a giggle on his tattooed chest.

 

Destiny places Dream's sigil aside - a sharp needle with a dark thread - and reaches to get hold of Desire's. The pair of gold handcuffs weigh light in her palm as she steps forward to summon her sibling.

 

Desire steps through the portrait with the cat-like, silky smooth grace that has always been so peculiar to them. They're the only one in the room, besides Robin, who's dressed to the occasion - a cuffed, pressed white shirt and a long red cape, like a prince's. Their blonde hair, as always, covers one of their eyes, and they smile as they take in their company for the night.

 

"My most esteemed siblings," they say, bowing down, form perfect as always, "I hope you're all well?"

 

They accept Delight's effusive greeting hug with elegance.

 

"Where's Despair?" Dream inquires, sounding like he doesn't much care one way or the other.

 

Desire waves his question away with a graceful movement of their hand. "Despair won't be available today. There's a war going on somewhere or other on Earth, and, well, specific services are… required."

 

Death scowls. "Dammit. Will have my hands full soon, then."

 

Destiny smiles with a vague curl of her lips that resembles kindness. "Let us discuss what we came here to solve, then. So we can all return to our chores."

 

She leads them to the dining room, Death giving Delight a piggy-back ride and Desire moving to the kitchen to help the servants with their meal as they do whenever there are family meetings like this.

 

Conversation between the Endless flows as easy and harsh as the passing of time - there's a peculiar intimacy that comes with sharing blood since the beginning of everything that was and is and will be, and so.

 

"So what if Delight has a boyfriend, now? What does that change anything?"

 

"It is quite different this time. This is my area of expertise, things wanting things; Delight's found himself quite the devoted man."

 

"I _love_ Zoro, you know. And stop talking about me as if I'm not here!"

 

"My brother, you do know beings like us can't intermingle with mere humans."

 

"Now that's a stretch right there, you know. Nothing wrong with messing around once every couple of centuries, we're all guilty of that little sin. What worries me here is just how seriously Luffy is willing to take this."

 

" _Quite_ serious, if his boy's dreams are anything to go by. I've been keeping a close watch on him and - Luffy, just how much have you interfered with his life already?"

 

"It's desire at its purest level. There's nothing any of you can do. There's hardly anything _I_ can do, unless I had no qualms about provoking major consequences on our little brother, which I do."

 

"So what do we do?"

 

"I've _told_ Ace already - if I can't be with him just because he's human, let me make him mine."

 

"My brother, are you daft?"

 

"I mean, it is the most _rational_ course of action. Could be hard, but it's better than the alternatives. Still, I wonder - "

 

"We'd have to convince both Heaven _and_ Hell to give up on the possibility of having his soul after he dies. If he was dead already and residing on one of the realms it'd be easier, but we're talking about a potential possession here - makes things less clear."

 

"Nah, it's okay. I can convince the old man upstairs. Smoker owes me a thing or two."

 

"I can talk to Shanks! He's my _friend_ , he wouldn't mind giving me a soul."

 

"I'll admit I'm not so sure about this. Seems more trouble than it's worth."

 

"Forgive me, brother, but you only say that because you haven't yearned for human company in centuries. I _know_ what I'm talking about. We either help Delight or we sit back and watch him burn the universe down trying to stay with his boy. No offense, baby brother."

 

"It's all good! But it is true. You helping me or not, I'm staying with Zoro."

 

"Now, that sounds fairly extreme-"

 

"I don't care, Robin. He's mine. I'm powerful enough to make that a reality, with or without permission."

 

"..."

 

"Oh, damn you all."

 

"What do _you_ think, Dream?"

 

"I would ask Delight to listen the voice of reason for once in his damned life, but I've given up on that many millennia ago. Do what you must. Just don't let this escalate."

 

"It'll be fine. Luffy goes to Hell and talks to Lucifer, I'll handle Heaven, everything will be great and we'll have one more seat at the table for family dinners."

 

-

 

“You can't go.”

 

Luffy tilts his head to the side, a distinctly not-human but lovely gesture he's fond of doing when he's confused. Zoro thinks he was probably never outright denied permission before in all his millennia of life - if he was, he didn't retain the experience for very long. “Of course I can.”

 

“Luffy, you're going to _hell._ You can't - I -”

 

“Zoro is so dumb. Shanks is my friend, it'll be okay. Convincing the higher-ups could be harder, but it'll be fine - Ace said he would do it, and I trust Ace.”

 

The idea of being _friends_ with the prince of Hell is so absurdly incomprehensible to Zoro that he shoves it to the back of his mind and leaves it there for deeper analysis at a future date. “Let me come with you, at least.”

 

“Nop. I'm powerful enough, Zoro isn't. You will be, though. As soon as I get them to say yes.”

 

Luffy looks inhumanly determined, immovable as a mountain. His power exudes from him in pulsing waves like a heartbeat.

 

Zoro falls silent. What could he say? This is not his world. These are gods and all-powerful beings whose squabbles and petty fights can provoke tears in the very fabric of the universe and who rule over humanity without mortals ever knowing.

 

Luffy's right. He's not strong enough.

 

But he trusts this _god_ of a boy, if nothing else.

 

“Okay,” he surrenders. “Okay.”

 

Luffy stands on his tiptoes and presses a kiss to the top of Zoro's head. It feels like benediction. Zoro shudders with how much he loves him. “It'll be okay,” Luffy says. “I’ll come back.”

 

Zoro believes in him. What else can he do?

 

-

 

He dreams of Luffy every night.

 

_Gift from my big brother,_ Luffy said excitedly when Zoro shyly mentioned it for the first time. _He does dreams! He probably likes you, then._

 

He dreams of kisses and afternoons spent in bed and days so indescribably happy it nearly drives him mad. He dreams of the sun, of sharp sunlight, of glimmering oceans. He dreams of a reality where he's a first mate who brandishes swords and scars and Luffy is the king of the seas of the world. He can taste the salt and the handle of the sword in his mouth; he can feel the wind ruffling his hair.

 

A tall, thin man with a cloak black like midnight draped around his shoulders and a blade in his hand stares at him in-between dreams. His eyes shine like twin stars. _Do you love my brother?_ , he asks in a voice that drawls out its way inside Zoro's unconscious mind.

 

_More than anything_ , Zoro feels more than says. They are suspended in the clouds as if tied to invisible puppet strings.

 

The tall man nods solemnly. He has tattoos on his knuckles and on his uncovered chest - it makes him look astoundingly mortal. _Treat him with all the kindness you can muster, little human. He's more precious than your weak mind could possibly conceive._

 

Zoro takes a deep breath. _He's all I have. More than anyone else, I know how important he is._

 

The man, the Dream King, Morpheus, the Great Shaper, Luffy's big brother, scoffs audibly. It carries as a strong gust of wind. _Bold words, boy._

 

Zoro straightens his back. _Bold but true._

 

The Dream King crosses his arms. He has tattoos on his forearms too, from what Zoro can see.

 

_You're honest,_ Morpheus says at last. _Honest and in love. You might survive us yet._

 

-

 

Ace and Smoker meet in a bar on the edge of the universe.

 

It's a favorite, both for the decent booze and the view - you can see a black hole out of the huge glass window. Fancy stuff. The bartender is discreet and experienced, keeps to himself mostly, but also knows how to make good idle conversation and remembers everyone's orders.

 

Ace is already waiting on his usual seat; work done for the day, his hat rests next to his elbow on the counter, his heavy boots unlaced. He steals glances to the automated sliding doors every now and then.

 

“Waiting for someone, Mr. Death?” the bartender inquires while wiping a glass dry.

 

Ace drums his fingers on the old, stained wood. “My usual company. You know.”

 

The bartender nods. He does know. “The usual drink for the usual duo, then?”

 

Ace grants him a thankful smile. “Read my thoughts.”

 

Smoker arrives as a white cloud that smells faintly of nicotine. When he shifts back into corporeal, grumpy form by Ace's side, there's already a fine bottle of whiskey and a glass with ice waiting for him.

 

“Portgas,” he spits out in lieu of a greeting, reaches in the inner pockets of his coat for cigars.

 

Ace's answering grin is effortlessly charming and it leers at Smoker. “Been at least two thousand years anyone's called me that. Other than you, I mean. How've you been? How's the good old Upstairs?”

 

Smoker shrugs, sticks two cigars between his lips, scowls at Ace when the boy lights them up with a snap of his fingers. “As it gotta be. As always.”

 

Ace leans back, tilts the tall chair until it's supported on its back legs. “Sounds exciting.”

 

Smoker snorts, lets out a long exhale. The smoke cloud shapes into a ship and sails away.  “What do you want, Portgas? I’d like to believe you didn't call me here just to be a fucking prick. Though I wouldn't be surprised.”

 

Ace leans further back. "I need you to do something for me."

 

A foot pushes the chair back to standing on four legs. Ace lets out a breathy laugh. Smoker tsks and takes a long drag.

 

"You wasting your time, then. I don't do favors, kid."

 

Ace gulps down the rest of his glass and turns around on his chair, presses his knees to Smoker's hip. "It's just a little thing," he drawls out, grin ever-present. It makes him look like Desire. "Please, for me."

 

"Forget it."

 

Ace tilts his head to the side, hooks a foot on Smoker's chair and spins it until they're facing each other. Their knees touch. Ace's irises are black holes with small fires in their endless depths. "Oh, c'mon. Did you forget Jerusalem already? It's only been, like, two thousand years, you know."

 

Smoker _freezes_ , then. They stay like that for a couple of seconds, Ace grinning and Smoker immobile - until Smoker puts out his cigars on a nearby ashtray with far more force than necessary and grabs two more from his coat and sticks them between his lips.

 

"Fucking brat," he mumbles.

 

Ace giggles. "If I ever told you just _how_ much older than you I am, sir, your poor little mind would collapse in itself at the mere thought."

 

Smoker lights his cigars with a lighter before Ace gets the chance to. He puffs out a big white cloud in his handsome boyish face - it blurs Smoker's view of him and gives him a short-lived but much-needed break. "Still a brat.”

 

“So,” Ace crosses his long legs at the knee. He's wearing the same damn shorts he always wears, and he's way too fucking close for Smoker's liking. “Will you do it?”

 

“Fuck you, Portgas.”

 

“Later, maybe. I'm free this Friday.”

 

Smoker almost bites down on his cigars in frustration. He refrains at the last second - he doesn't feel like tasting tobacco on his tongue tonight. "Fuck off. _Fine._ What do you want?"

 

Ace fills up both their glasses again and pushes Smoker's closer to him. "Just a tiny favor from your big boss."

 

-

 

Luffy arrives in Hell with a bottle of sake and through the front door.

 

"Who is it that comes forward and with what purpose?" one of the guardians of the main gates asks.

 

"I'm Delight of the Endless," Luffy answers, "and I come to visit an old friend."

 

"And what is that you bring in your hand, Delight of the Endless?" the other guardian questions.

 

Luffy glances at the label and shrugs. "Sake from Shanks' hometown. It's a gift."

 

The guardian frowns. It's a giant demon with many heads and many mouths and limbs, but it does frown. All living creatures must have a way of expressing their frustration, even if the definition of living is being stretched to the utmost limit. "Hometown? His Highness Lord Lucifer doesn't -"

 

Luffy waves his protest away impatiently. He tightens and loosens his hold around the neck of the bottle. "Of course he does. Everyone has to be born _somewhere_ , dummy. Well, except for me and my siblings, I guess."

 

The demons are left so confused that Luffy steps through the immense gates made of twisted metal without further delay.

 

Lucifer is waiting for him in the throne room. The Red-Haired Angel sits on his imposing chair, his one hand grasping loosely at the handle of his sword, his cape, black as midnight, framing his figure. At the arm of his throne, sits Belzeebub, hair a bit whiter than the last time Luffy met him.

 

"Shanks!" Luffy exclaims with sheer excitement. "Benn!"

 

Benn Beckman grins lopsidedly. "Hey, kid. Been a while."

 

Shanks extends out his arm, hugs Luffy close to himself.

 

"How's the arm, Shanks?" Luffy asks.

 

Shanks barks out a good-humored laugh, grips his own shoulder to demonstrate how his lack of one arm remains the same as it was since the Fall. "As always. How's the family?"

 

"As always. Sanji _almost_ made Torao kill a blood relative, as payback for all that thing with the challenge back in the 1900's, you remember, I think I told you - so that was _messy_. But it's all good now!"

 

Another laugh. "Good, good. It's always great getting news from you. But I assume you had a reason for bothering to come all the way here?"

 

“ _Oh,_ yes, that. I want you to give me a soul.”

 

Shanks’ easy, handsome smile falls from his face. He leans back against his iron throne, props his chin upon his hand. “Luffy-” he starts with a sigh.

 

“Just one,” Luffy barrels on, moving closer. “One soul.”

 

“Is it even one of mine? No, forget it, since it's you who's asking - of course it isn't.”

 

Luffy pouts. “Oh, c'mon, _please_? I'll owe you for eternity.”

 

Shanks shakes his head. His red hair falls on top of his forehead, covers the edges of the scar over his eye. “I don't want you to _owe_ me, Luffy, you're a friend. But, are you even aware of what you're asking of me?”

 

Luffy's lips are pursed together in that way that tells just how impossibly, frustratingly stubborn he can be. A force of nature, an endless source of power from the universe, barely contained in tangible form. "I _am_."

 

"Do your siblings know of this?"

 

"They do."

 

"What does Death think of this?"

 

"Ace already got permission from Heaven. I _said_ I would get from you."

 

Despite himself, Shanks lets out a chuckle full to the brim with endearment. "Of course," he says, and just like that, he knows Luffy won't leave his territory with a _no._

 

He grasps the neck of the bottle, opens it, sniffs. It's really good sake, he can tell by the smell, and it brings back memories. "Tell you what," he starts. "Benn can grab us some mugs, we can share this, and you tell me just who this soul is. If it's a good enough story, I'll give it to you."

 

-

 

Death lies back on the couch. “It's done.”

 

Dream pauses in his movements - always graceful and often sleepy-slow, even if Death knows the Lord of Sleep rarely falls to slumber himself - of pouring a cup of coffee for himself. “I beg your pardon?”

 

“Luffy's boy. It's done. Luffy convinced Lucifer, I convinced the high-ups.”

 

“How did you even -”

 

“I asked Smoker, Smoker asked that bastard Akainu who asked those five old sons of bitches, who asked the big boss.”

 

“How in the world did you manage to convince Smoker?”

 

Death shrugs, props his feet up on the tasteful center table. “Jerusalem.”

 

“Oh,” Dream says before sipping from his coffee. “Makes sense.”

 

They stay in silence for a little while - Death and Dream are, indeed, brothers, and they're more than used to each other's company.

 

"What happens now?" Dream asks after he's done with his cup.

 

"We wait. Time will do its thing. The universe will catch up with the kid at some point, reality will spit him out, and we grab him. Luffy takes him home."

 

Death yawns, pulls his hat over his eyes, gets more comfortable on the couch. "'M gonna take a nap. If anyone's supposed to die, just make them sleep for a bit, will you?"

 

Dream smiles, unseen. "Very well."

 

-

 

Zoro didn't think divinity would taste like this, but he was wrong about a lot of things.

 

It's okay. He's learning.

 

He's learning that divinity tastes like pancakes early in the morning, and smells like fresh laundry and comfortable blankets and sounds like his annoying neighbor waking up at 6 in the morning and waking everyone else in the building up alongside them and like the catchy song that plays every day on the radio. It feels like a warm cup of coffee and a kiss, like an absentminded brush of hands, like opening up their window to see the sunrise. All of this, these little bits and pieces of humanity, made sharper and clearer and brighter, made more important in how small they are, how inconsequential.

 

Every kiss means more because they have all the time in existence. The warmth of skin against skin means more because of how vast and endless the universe is, how deep reality goes, how _astounding_ everything is - because of that, feeling Luffy hug him from behind and press a kiss to his nape and ask him about breakfast is as essential as the birth of the world itself.

 

The divinity between their lips and their mugs of coffee. Zoro is taken to an endless beach with a horizon that stretches on forever and an ocean as deep as infinity. He builds sandcastles with Luffy. Builds new universes and dimensions. Kisses him over the starry skies they create for brand new realities. Feels the sand and the sea and the never-ending sky under his feet and over his head.

 

Zoro loves and his love brushes every single corner of every single universe. Luffy takes his hand and pulls him onwards to what _endless_ really means.

 

And every night they go back to their small apartment, buy bread at the bakery just around the corner, fall asleep in their twin-sized bed.

 

Divinity.

  


**Author's Note:**

> you know when an idea is GREAT but you're not a good enough writer to make it reality? and then it just sucks? this is a good example of that. 
> 
> 'what happened in jerusalem?', you ask. heaven fucked up and had to ask death for a favor. he'll never let them live it down.


End file.
